Raising Hell

With Run-DMC's Raising Hell, the band tore down the walls of the mainstream for hip hop and anchored it there forever. The crossover hit Walk This Way, recorded with the rockers from Aerosmith, still sounds like a revolution today. It has everything: hard rock riffs, scratches, gripping rhythms and, of course, the raps and energy of Run, Jam Master Jay and DMC. The New Yorkers' third album was the first in the genre to go platinum - three times over. It was the right stories in the right style and rhythm at the right time. The remastering for Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab was carried out by Rob LoVerde and Shawn R. Britton. Compared to previous editions, it reveals a much stormier dynamic that emphasizes Rick Rubin's crisp production in great detail. The hybrid SACD in a mini-LP cover is released in a limited edition of 2,000 copies with consecutive serial numbers.

If the history of black magic and the occult reveals anything, it’s that the drive to marshal the unseen powers of the dark, and bend them to mortal will, is as old as mankind itself. Men and women have believed, in virtually every age and in every land, that there is another world—a world of spirits and souls, angels and demons, gods and monsters, a world that might hold the answers to all the great mysteries: What is life all about? Does man decide his own fate? Is there a Heaven? And, perhaps more important, is there a Hell?

From the author of the celebrated classic Louder Than Hell comes an oral history of the badass Heavy Metal lifestyle—the debauchery, demolition, and headbanging dedication—featuring metalhead musicians from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest to Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot to Disturbed, Megadeth, Throwdown and more.

If the history of black magic and the occult reveals anything, it's that the drive to marshal the unseen powers of the dark, and bend them to mortal will, is as old as mankind itself. Men and women have believed, in virtually every age and in every land, that there is another world—a world of spirits and souls, angels and demons, gods and monsters, a world that might hold the answers to all the great mysteries: What is life all about? Does man decide his own fate? Is there a Heaven? And, perhaps more important, is there a Hell?